12.4.10

DOYLE RESIGNATION: BARRY HEARN STATEMENT

WPBSA chairman Barry Hearn has issued the following statement in the wake of Lee Doyle's resignation from the board:

"I welcome Lee’s decision to resign as a Director of WPBSA.

"As a manager of players and promoter of rival events in important territories like China, Lee’s position as a Board Director, where confidential information becomes available to effectively a competitor, has become untenable.

"He may well be opposed to my plan to reinvigorate snooker for the benefit of all players and I therefore totally understand his reasons for resigning."I’m glad to say that the remaining Board Members, Steve Davis, Brandon Parker and Pat Mooney are, like me, totally committed in supporting these new proposals for taking the game forward and look forward to discussing them with the Players at the meeting planned for 5th May."

please can you re-post this Dave in case it does not get viewed due to the latest news.

I would have thought that you as a independent blog would have had a field day on the conflict that is rife in the board of WPBSA, the Chairman and Steve Davis are shareholders in matchroom and are both trying to persuade the players to sell their assets to a company that they will control for £1 - Steve Davis is also chairman of snooker players association who are about to receive substantial amounts of money from the wpbsa - I thought this was supposed to be an independent association.

Regardless of whether it is a good deal or not, If they want to put a bid in for the commercial rights of the company Barry Hearn & Steve Davis should declare the conflict and stand down from the board of wpbsa with immediate effect.

Also why is there no tender process? In order to get the best possible deal for the members it is the duty of directors to test the market - surely if other sports promoters/companies were aware of the company being up for sale for £1 there would be other interested parties.

Pat Mooney & Brandon parker are also conflicted in that they are receiving handouts to promote their events from the wpbsa and are also heavily involved with the snooker players association.

I can only wonder why you have not been more vocal on this conflict - I'm sure the members would appreciate your unbiased opinion.

Sorry, but the more I think about it the more I believe that the Hearn proposal should be rejected. Effectively getting the commercial rights for £1, and having his hands on £3 MILLION of the players money which is sitting in the bank. He has said that he will use that money so, if this venture fails and he hands the commercial rights back, how much of the £3 MILLION will be coming back into the World Snooker coffers?

The players having control over the commercial aspects of the game has always been a disaster.These people are snooker players, NOT businessmen. They play snooker- that's what they're good at.Players have always been paranoid about business people 'exploiting' them, but in reality, they're not fit to run commercial affairs.The players have a golden opportunity to allow Barry Hearn, one of sport's greatest promoters, to revive the fortunes of the game.So far, he's promised new tournaments, more playing opportunities and greater prize money.If he fails to hit his commercial targets, the rights revert back to the players anyway, so they CANNOT LOSE.This really is snooker's last chance to save itself from itself. Democracy doesn't work in an arena like this. The players are not fit to make commercial decisions about the game. I can probably count on one hand the number of players who are even fit to pass comment on business matters.The biggest danger is that so-called 'managers' will put influence on their easily-manipulated players to reject Hearn's plan, whereas in reality they have their own agendas.The majority of players don't exactly have a great track record when it comes to voting and making their voices count on important decisions about the future of the game.

Snooker has had power struggles for too long now and people are tired of it. 110sport have shown a greater capability for running tournaments than the governing body have in the last 10 years, so I think it would be feasible to give them a shot at running the game as it would be better for all involved. Hearn talks a good game but seems to be all about ego and all about how good his ideas look rather than the good of the game.

4:49 -yes -you are right. The situation with Lee Doyle and Pat Mooney are entirely different. Pat Mooney is working with the WPBSA for the good of the sport -let's look at the facts that prove this:1)he's set up the World Series to bring more tournaments to more players in more countries around the world. Throughout his setting up of the World Series he always tried to talk to the WPBSA and involve them -rather than act in competition with them. 2) He has also worked with the players to set up the SPA -not in any way in competition with WPBSA or against them -but to work along side them for the good of the players. Top man I say!

depressing news, having seen doyle on a tv interview during the grand prix this year my first impression of the man was that of self importance. For gods sake can people not look at BH has done for other sports and make a positive impact. Doyle can barely run an operational website with 110 sport never mind a sport

Dave H 5.17pm,Acording to Snooker Scene magazine you are right.To the remainder of the sport you are wrong.The voters will decide although I doubt this post will ever see the light of day as it possibly doesn't suit the view of snooker from the journalists chair.Otherwise its a good blog fella.

Surely if Barry is the kind of man his supporters say he is, he can get through this. If he's such a hard case, he'll be able to bang a few heads together in time to have these people's minds sorted out by the time of the vote... the players who support him have a role to play too. They have to stop asking nicely and make it clear to their fellow pros that the bottom feeders shouldn't be allowed to dictate the sport's future.

Why do proposals packages have to always come from people - who either manage players currently or have done so in the past.

This is where the similarities with the Altium bid in 2002 & the Hearn proposals of 2010 are quite similar.

On the surface - The Altium plan guaranteed 9 ranking events per season & an 6.4M prize fund.

The perception at the time was that it was 110sport - Hendry & MJ Williams bid for control - This created enough jealousy & conflict of interest to have it shelved.

With the Barry Hearn 2010 plan - Similar with it being Matchroom - the players he used to manage & his close association with Steve Davis - creating jealousy & the perception of yes ...conflict of interest.

Ideally - Would be better if proposals came in from companies or organisations NOT so involved in player politics - But,more or less just stump up the circuit cash fund - for a smaller stake of total control & still let the players managers maintain a worthwhile role for their clients.

Not saying at all that the previous WPBSA board were that enterprising themselves - but,were more independent from the player/manager politicking.

In any event - look forward to when Goldman Sachs put in an irresistable offer!!!

Lee Doyle’s resignation is probable to start a new beginning as the snooker administration has been perpetually in discord with Snooker Scene and the “Voice of Snooker” since John Spencer finished as chairman. Mr hey you

Suffice it to say, that world snooker is so insidious now, that conflict of interests are everywhere.

Think Doyle's chance of setting up a rival tour has gone. That was at the start of the decade when Cuemasters had the top 16. V.similar to what Hearn has now with the PDC. Unfortunately, I don't think people would pay to see the stable now.

Also, going back to how insidious it is now go back to the start of the decade, when Doyle allegedly 'bought' every best snooker hack there was to work for him. Was there ever a bad word written about his stable?

Anyhows, am past caring about this farrago now, i'll be intested to see the apathy come the vote. It'll probably go the way of the general election one...

Heard a rumour that Totesport Welsh Open was given away for the princely sum of £20,000. Can you confirm that Dave? I have no idea what the Masters was sold for. Perhaps Mr Hearn should come clean and tell us. If the sponsorships were THAT poor, that was one HELL OF A DEAL for prime time television advertising! That was selling the game off cheap!!! It's all very well bragging two new sponsors, albeit at short notice, but come on, at what price!!!

Lee Doyle’s resignation is probable to start a new beginning as the snooker administration has been perpetually in discord with Snooker Scene and the “Voice of Snooker” since John Spencer finished as chairman. Mr hey you

Revitalise snooker you're having a laugh, playing music when players walk on and making a fool of themselves - popping a few champage corks - Parker and Mooney getting around £500,000 of the £3 million to put on Micky Mouse events, because they can't find the money or sponsors themselves, it's hardly revitalising the game - no doubt they will make a killing some way or another. These deals should be put on hold until the members have a chance to vote on the £1 takeover.

Any sport well-promoted means that the promoter makes money as well as the competitor. That's their incentive for being a promoter. The idea is that everyone - venues, sponsors, broadcasters, promoters, players and fans should be able to get something out of it and the players should quite rightly get a stake commensurate with fact that they are the main attraction, but neither can they play in a vacuum. Professional snooker players can choose to keep 100% of the proceeds of the game if they want, but should bear in mind that 100% of 0 is, well, 0.

Anonymous said...Revitalise snooker you're having a laugh, playing music when players walk on and making a fool of themselves - popping a few champage corks - Parker and Mooney getting around £500,000 of the £3 million to put on Micky Mouse events, because they can't find the money or sponsors themselves, it's hardly revitalising the game - no doubt they will make a killing some way or another. These deals should be put on hold until the members have a chance to vote on the £1 takeover.9:46 AM

Prejuding at its finest.

Anonymous said...To be honest I too have grown bored of this whole proposals saga, i wish they would just do the vote already so we can move on to something more interesting.11:42 AM

Well said.

Ruthie said...Any sport well-promoted means that the promoter makes money as well as the competitor. That's their incentive for being a promoter. The idea is that everyone - venues, sponsors, broadcasters, promoters, players and fans should be able to get something out of it and the players should quite rightly get a stake commensurate with fact that they are the main attraction, but neither can they play in a vacuum. Professional snooker players can choose to keep 100% of the proceeds of the game if they want, but should bear in mind that 100% of 0 is, well, 0.12:27 PM

Dave, would appreciate if you can let me know whether my understanding is correct.

Currently the commercial rights are owned by the players. Hearn wants to form a new company to buy these rights for £1. Hearn will own 51% of the new company for a personal investment of £255k. The players will own 25% of this new company, wth all of the top 64 being offered shares for some financial input.

So if Hearn make money out of this new company and thus lines his pockets, will he not also be lining the pockets of the the players as well? So instead of owning 100% of not very much at the moment, they have the opportunity of owning 25% of something and getting returns on their investment.

By the time BH pay's his wage bill and bonuses to himself and others in the new company there will be nothing left for returns, thats a no brainer - its common practice in this type of company. If anybody thinks BH will RISK parting with £255k of his own cash they are mistaken, it may look like it on paper but if BH is as shrewd as he is made out to be it wont be happening.

Anon 3.39pm, what is left for the players now after the previous board got their wages. Why cant people see that in no other sport is the commercial rights owned by the players. It is owned by business men (or companies run by businessmen) and by increasing the opportunities for people to play, thus increase their chances of making a wage.

Am I understanding this correctly as well. Hearn said "Should either the prize money not increase as set out, or the license fee payable to the WPBSA not be paid over all commercial rights would revert back to the WPBSA."

"After the first three years the new commercial company will guarantee prize money increasing by a minimum of 5% per annum i.e. 2013/14 £4,725m, 2014/15 £4,950m and 2015/16 £5,175m, with further levels being agreed each six years thereafter."

So by my understanding, if the new company fails to deliver preset and agreed targets, the commercial rights return to the players. So if hearn succeeds the players benefit, if he fails, they get the rights back to do it themselves. Where is the gamble?

There are two questions Dave that you've not addressed - did Totesport pay just £20,000 for a full weeks advertising on BBC and how much did Pokerstars pay for the Masters? and is it true about the conflict as described at 4.54?

Ive followed the beautiful game since 74. loved every minute of it and Im still crying for more.Hearn and Davis in charge is snookers worst nightmare.The more intelligent will understand me the rest are just an extension of snookers gross incompetence.

its the £3mil & the other assets of the wpbsa that will fund this so called revitalisation. will the players listen to all the spin and vote in favour of BH? only time will tell. i find it strange dave that you cant voice an opinion on the conflict, its not like you.

Leave it to that doyen (not) of journalists - Brian Radford - who has dusted off his poison pen and is busy littering the columns of the Daily Express with articles and quotes by Peter Ebdon, Del Hill and Rex Williams.

It doesn't take much imagination to know who is coordinating that dirty tricks campaign.